Snow blower drive

ABSTRACT

A drive for a snow blower of the type which is detachably mounted on a tractor. The drive includes an input drive sheave which connects to the tractor and an output drive sheave which drives the snow blower auger. The shafts on which these sheaves are mounted extend at 90* relative to each other. The sheaves are connected by a drive belt of the vee type. An idler sheave and a tension sheave also engage the drive belt and the arrangement of these sheaves provides the 90* drive without the use of gears. The tension sheave is attached to a pivotally mounted arm which permits the tension sheave to move in an arc in drive belt tensioning and non-tensioning directions. Spring means are provided to bias the tension sheave in a belt tensioning direction and means are provided to permit adjustment of the sheave on its mounting arm.

United States Patent [451 Sept. 19, 1972 Danuser 154] SNOW BLOWER DRIVE[72] Inventor: Walter W. Danuser, Claremore,

Okla.

[73] Assignee: Danuser Machine Works, Inc.,

Claremore, Okla.

[22] Filed: May 21, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 145,687

[52] US. Cl. ..74/242.1 R, 74/219, 74/242.15 R [51] Int. Cl ..Fl6h 7/12,F16h 7/10, F16h 7/00 [58] Field of Search.....74/242.l R, 242.11 R,242.15 R. 74/219 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS R25,1926/1962 Schurr et al........... 74/2421 R 1,884,246 10/1932 Ridderstrom..74/242.1 R 2,639,643 5/1953 Palmer ..74/242.1 R X 3,626,771 12/1971Luedtke ..74/219 2,865,210 12/1958 Fisher ..74/219 X PrimaryExaminer-Leonard H. Gerin Attorney-Parker, Carter & Markey 57] ABSTRACTA drive for a snow blower of the type which is detachably mounted on atractor. The drive includes an input drive sheave which connects to thetractor and an output drive sheave which drives the snow blower auger.The shafts on which these sheaves are mounted extend at 90 relative toeach other. The sheaves are connected by a drive belt of the vee type.An idler sheave and a tension sheave also engage the drive belt and thearrangement of these sheaves provides the 90 drive without the use ofgears. The tension sheave is attached to a pivotally mounted arm whichpermits the tension sheave to move in an arc in drive belt tensioningand non-tensioning directions. Spring means are provided to bias thetension sheave in a belt tensioning direction and means are provided topermit adjustment of the sheave on its mounting arm.

5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures snow BLOWER muva SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThis invention is concerned with a drive for a snow blower of the typewhich detachably mounts on a tractor and more particularly with a 90drive utilizing only sheaves and a vee belt.

An object of this invention is a 90 drive which does notrequire gears.

Another object is to maintain tension on the drive belt of a snow blowerwhile providing for a large range of take-up adjustments.

Another object is a tensioning mechanism for a drive belt in which theamount of tension applied may be varied over a wide range.

Other objects may be found in the following specification, claims anddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention is illustrated more orless diagrammatically in the following drawings wherein;

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a snow blower embodying the drive ofthis invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, partial end elevational view of the drive beltdirection changing and tensioning mechanism of this invention with partsomitted for clarity;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial top plan view of the drive belt directionchanging and tensioning mechanism of this invention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, partial side elevational view of the mechanism ofFIG. 3 showing the movable tension sheave in phantom in its position ofmaximum take-up, and

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. I of the drawings shows asnow blower 11 or snow thrower as it is sometimes called. This unit isintended to be detachably mounted on a tractor of the farm or gardentype but which is not shown in these drawings. The snow blower includesa housing 13 which contains an auger (not shown) for engaging andpropelling the snow through the discharge chute 15. The auger housing ismounted on a frame 17 which may be connected to a tractor by means ofrear support hooks l9 and front supporthooks 21. The front support hooksare pivotally connected to the frame and are moved by a control handle23.

The snow blower drive 31 includes an input shaft 33 mounted at thetractor end of the frame 17 and an output shaft 35 located adjacent theauger housing. The output shaft extends at an angle of 90 relative tothe input shaft. The output shaft connects by means of a chain drive(not shown) to a sprocket gear (not shown) mounted on the auger shaft37. An output sheave 39 is affixed to one end of the output shafi 3S andis located in a guard or housing 41. Upper and lower sheaves 43 and 45are affixed to the input shaft 33 and a drive belt 47 connects the lowerinput sheave with the output sheave 39.

The drive belt 47 also passes around an idler sheave 51 which isrotatably mounted on a stub 53. The stub,

FIG. 5, includes a bolt 55 fastened to the housing 41 to position thestub generally in axial alignment with the output shaft 35. A sleeve 57is installed over the bolt 55. The sheave 51 fits over a bearing 59mounted on the sleeves 57.

A second sleeve 65 is journaled on the sleeve 57 of the stub 53. Weldedto this second sleeve is a bent arm 67. An elongated slot 69 is formedin the arm near the free end thereof and an idler sheave 71 is pivotallymounted on the arm by means of a threaded fastener 73 passing throughthe slot 69. A bracket 75 is attached to the underside of the arm 67 anda tension spring 77 connects to this bracket and to a bracket 79attached to the frame 17 of the snow blower.

The use, operation and function of this invention are as follows:

The tractor drive is connected to the upper drive sheave 43 by means ofa belt (not shown). Rotation of the sheave 43 will rotate the inputshaft 33 and input sheave 45 bringing about movement of the belt 47.Movement of the belt will cause rotation of the output sheave 39 whichwill drive theoutput shaft 35. Rotation of the output shah will bringabout rotation of the auger shaft 37.

In order to provide a drive, or stated another way, an output shaftwhich extends at right angles to the input shaft, without using gearsthe drive belt 47 is looped around the fixed idler sheave 51 and thetension idler sheave 71. The tension idler sheave is positioned betweenthe output sheave 39 and the fixed idler sheave 51 which have a commonaxis of rotation. This axis extends 90 relative to the axis of rotationof the input sheave 45. The tension idler sheave axis of rotation isgenerally parallel to the shaft of the input sheave and extends at rightangles to the output shaft 35.

When the belt is under its normal drive tension, the tension pulley 71will be in the position shown in solid lines in FIG. 4. When the tensionon the belt 47 is reduced due, for example, to stretching of the belt,the tension spring 77 will move the tension sheave 71 to the positionshown in phantom in FIG. 4 thereby maintaining proper tension on thebelt 47. It the movement of the tension sheave between the extremepositions shown in FIG. 4 is not sufficient to maintain proper tensionon the belt, the sheave 41 may be moved longitudinally along its supportarm 67 through means of the fastener 73 and slot 69 to increase tensionon the belt 47. Conversely, the provision of the fastener 73 and slot 69permit loosening of the tension on the belt 47 under appropriatecircumstances.

Whereas, the preferred form of the invention has been described andshown, it should be understood that there are modifications, alterationsand changes which may be made without departing from the teachings ofthe invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention should be onlylimited by the claims attached hereto.

1 claim:

1. A drive for a snow blower of the type which detachably mounts on atractor, said drive including:

an output drive shaft mounted near the snow blower housing,

a drive sheave mounted on said output drive shaft,

an idler sheave rotatably mounted on a stub with said stub spaced fromand axially aligned with said output drive shaft,

an input drive sheave located away from said snow blower housing,

said input drive sheave mounted on an input shaft extending at rightangles to said output drive shaft,

a drive belt engaging said drive and idler sheaves,

and

a tension sheave engaging said drive belt,

said tension sheave positioned between said idler sheave and said outputdrive sheave with the rotational axis of said tension sheave extendingat right angles to said output drive shaft.

2. The drive of claim 1 further characterized in that means are providedfor adjustably attaching said tension sheave to an arm which ispivotally mounted for arcuate movement to tighten and loosen said drivebelt,

and

means are provided for biasing said tension sheave on a drive belttightening direction. 3. The drive of claim 2 further characterized inthat 5 said means adjustably attaching said tension sheave to an armincludes an elongated slot in said arm and a fastener extending throughsaid sheave and said siot.

4. The drive of claim 2 further characterized in that said means biasingsaid tension sheave in a belt tightenlO ing direction includes a tensionspring attached to said tension sheave arm.

5. The drive of claim 2 further characterized in that said tensionsheave arm is pivotally attached to said idler stub.

asses

1. A drive for a snow blower of the type which detachably mounts on atractor, said drive including: an output drive shaft mounted near thesnow blower housing, a drive sheave mounted on said output drive shaft,an idler sheave rotatably mounted on a stub with said stub spaced fromand axially aligned with said output drive shaft, an input drive sheavelocated away from said snow blower housing, said input drive sheavemounted on an input shaft extending at right angles to said output driveshaft, a drive belt engaging said drive and idler sheaves, and a tensionsheave engaging said drive belt, said tension sheave positioned betweensaid idler sheave and said output drive sheave with the rotational axisof said tension sheave extending at right anGles to said output driveshaft.
 2. The drive of claim 1 further characterized in that means areprovided for adjustably attaching said tension sheave to an arm which ispivotally mounted for arcuate movement to tighten and loosen said drivebelt, and means are provided for biasing said tension sheave on a drivebelt tightening direction.
 3. The drive of claim 2 further characterizedin that said means adjustably attaching said tension sheave to an armincludes an elongated slot in said arm and a fastener extending throughsaid sheave and said slot.
 4. The drive of claim 2 further characterizedin that said means biasing said tension sheave in a belt tighteningdirection includes a tension spring attached to said tension sheave arm.5. The drive of claim 2 further characterized in that said tensionsheave arm is pivotally attached to said idler stub.